Permetherin treat for clothing

[King Ding Dong]

Several families in our troop treat clothing with Permetherin for mosquito and tick control. The most popular product seems to be Sawyers, but it is very expensive. ($15 for 4 outfits) Searching the backpacking forums it seems many buy concentrated 10 or 36% and mix a batch to soak their clothing in. As long as you get the kind that does not have petroleum addititives they claim it works just as well and is 20x cheaper. Does anyone have experience with it using either method or product ?

[Twocubdad]

I got a two pound bag at the feed & seed for $4.95. Use it on the squash and zucchini borer beetles.

[Basementdweller]

So what are you doing that warrants that sort of thing?????

 

Resident camp??? naw.....

[King Ding Dong]

BD, It has been a very wet spring around here. When we took our bike camping trip a couple of weeks ago the mosquitos caught everyone by surprise. They were bad and most of us only had 25% DEET, I went and got some 100% and that helped but my boy's legs were a mess. Easily 30 bites. I don't know what it is about him but Mosquitos just love to suck his blood. Maybe it is because he has no fat on him and his skin is stretched tight over those boney legs. Or maybe his red hair attracts them. I picked three ticks off of me sitting in a chair reading. The park ranger said he only uses 100% DEET. It may take a few weeks off his life, but says those are the worst ones. Them skeeters and hicks can be very bad round these parts. A couple of years ago in Nebraska I had to leave camp for work on a Saturday morning. Came back about 2:00 to break camp and l left the Off at camp. In the 200 yards to my tent from the car I swatted at least 10. My arms were covered in streaks of blood.

[King Ding Dong]

BD, It has been a very wet spring around here. When we took our bike camping trip a couple of weeks ago the mosquitos caught everyone by surprise. They were bad and most of us only had 25% DEET, I went and got some 100% and that helped but my boy's legs were a mess. Easily 30 bites. I don't know what it is about him but Mosquitos just love to suck his blood. Maybe it is because he has no fat on him and his skin is stretched tight over those boney legs. Or maybe his red hair attracts them. I picked three ticks off of me sitting in a chair reading. The park ranger said he only uses 100% DEET. It may take a few weeks off his life, but says those are the worst ones. Them skeeters and hicks can be very bad round these parts. A couple of years ago in Nebraska I had to leave camp for work on a Saturday morning. Came back about 2:00 to break camp and l left the Off at camp. In the 200 yards to my tent from the car I swatted at least 10. My arms were covered in streaks of blood.

I don't understand why I can't make paragraphs with my ipad.

[Polaris]

BD, It has been a very wet spring around here. When we took our bike camping trip a couple of weeks ago the mosquitos caught everyone by surprise. They were bad and most of us only had 25% DEET, I went and got some 100% and that helped but my boy's legs were a mess. Easily 30 bites. I don't know what it is about him but Mosquitos just love to suck his blood. Maybe it is because he has no fat on him and his skin is stretched tight over those boney legs. Or maybe his red hair attracts them. I picked three ticks off of me sitting in a chair reading. The park ranger said he only uses 100% DEET. It may take a few weeks off his life, but says those are the worst ones. Them skeeters and hicks can be very bad round these parts. A couple of years ago in Nebraska I had to leave camp for work on a Saturday morning. Came back about 2:00 to break camp and l left the Off at camp. In the 200 yards to my tent from the car I swatted at least 10. My arms were covered in streaks of blood.

"Them skeeters and hicks can be very bad round these parts."

 

Dratted iPad autocorrect changed ticks to hicks! LOL

[King Ding Dong]

BD, It has been a very wet spring around here. When we took our bike camping trip a couple of weeks ago the mosquitos caught everyone by surprise. They were bad and most of us only had 25% DEET, I went and got some 100% and that helped but my boy's legs were a mess. Easily 30 bites. I don't know what it is about him but Mosquitos just love to suck his blood. Maybe it is because he has no fat on him and his skin is stretched tight over those boney legs. Or maybe his red hair attracts them. I picked three ticks off of me sitting in a chair reading. The park ranger said he only uses 100% DEET. It may take a few weeks off his life, but says those are the worst ones. Them skeeters and hicks can be very bad round these parts. A couple of years ago in Nebraska I had to leave camp for work on a Saturday morning. Came back about 2:00 to break camp and l left the Off at camp. In the 200 yards to my tent from the car I swatted at least 10. My arms were covered in streaks of blood.

Naw, that was me pretending I was from the Ozarks and not St. Louis.

[walk in the woods]

We used the spray-on Sawyers for the BWCAW last year. The mosquitoes fed on it and grew larger. Actually, I think it was helpful but I found that I had product left after treating my four sets of clothes. Figuring out the dosing with the spray and getting it even was my challenge.

[King Ding Dong]

Thought I would give an update. Those of us that used the Sawyers or concentrate Permetherin (plus DEET) had no problems with ticks or mosquitos. The results varied for those that didn't. A few boys were picking ticks off all the time and a couple got chewed up by the Mosquitos. The gnats were a different story and really annoying. The staff had a commercial product I can't recall the name of but the primary ingredients were vanilla, peppermint and cherry extract. My CC drove to Wally World and bought some vanilla and peppermint and then diluted with water in a spray bottle. Sprayed the hair and upper body and hand applied to face. 95% effective for about a hour and made a huge difference for everyone. I don't think my son could have completed his pioneering project without it and it was funny watching the reactions of everyone when they realized they just inhaled a bug.

[King Ding Dong]

We used the spray-on Sawyers for the BWCAW last year. The mosquitoes fed on it and grew larger. Actually, I think it was helpful but I found that I had product left after treating my four sets of clothes. Figuring out the dosing with the spray and getting it even was my challenge.

That was my challenge also. I had eight sets to do and it took a while, I just went over the shoes, socks and shorts again until it was gone. The concentrate was great for the backpacks, pads and cots.

 

3M makes a concentrate soak product that would be a faster and more even application but longer dry time. I will likely use the Martins 10% concentrate (diluted to .5) next time on everything and soak as it is much cheaper. Any leftover I just sprayed around the yard (and the dog as that is what it is labeled for)